Why me?
by mydurisekel
Summary: Ingram was captured and detained in the Dungeon Dimension for 4 years. during this time, various things happened to him. this story follows his return to sainity.  This is an AU fic with little reference to the brawlers. you have been warned. Ing/Hawk.


chapter 1

Zamik tried to ignore the screams that echoed through the dungeon. This always happened, it had been happening for 3 years by his count so far.

He looked back at the cell he was supposed to be guarding. Inside the cell was Ingram. Chained up and abused, it was almost impossible to hate Tyorg for doing this to him.

"We can't help him, you know." Zamik looked up at the female guard stationed opposite him. "We can't go near him unless the owner permits us."

"It just makes them sound like useless animals…"

Zamik went back to leaning on his trident and staring off into space. _*sigh* if I had the chance I would get that kid out in a heartbeat._

The agony was starting to affect him too. He could feel what Ingram was going through, literally. He blinked and shook his head, trying to get rid of the sensation flowing through his body.

Both guards looked up as Tyorg walked away down the hall. "Do whatever you want to him, I'm gone."

With that, he teleported away to another part of the dungeon.

Zell, the female guard, gulped as she saw the trail of blood that Tyorg left behind.

Zamik just looked at the cell door. "Well, I do believe that was a direct invitation."

"Be careful Zamik, I've heard that he will kill without question if he is startled enough."

To Zell's surprise, Zamik placed his trident against the cell wall. "Why did you do that?"

Zamik answered with a hint of surprise in his voice. "The last thing that kid would do is kill me; I don't intend to give him a reason to."

"Ah- well, I guess so…"

"You'll know if I need any help."

"He he, I guess I will."

After this short discussion, Zamik walked into the cell, he was horrified at what he saw.

chapter 2

Ingram vaguely heard someone enter his cell. Instinctively he pulled himself up into a standing position, or at least tried to.

Zamik caught Ingram as his leg snapped. Any other time, Ingram would have yelped in agony, any other time, he wouldn't have gone through worse pain every day for the last 3 years. He simply gasped as the pain coursed through his body.

Zamik himself gasped when he felt how wet with blood Ingram's entire body was.

He started slightly when he heard Ingram talk, it sounded like his voice hadn't been used in 100 years.

"Who-who are you?" there was an underlying, pure fear in his voice.

"I-I'm on your side, you don't have to be scared of me."

"My side? Ha, I don't even know what side I'm on any more…"

Ingram felt the guard wrap a hand around his, causing him to loosen his grip on the only thing that was keeping him in a vertical position.

"It's ok, I'll catch you."

Ingram seemed to relax slightly at that remark, as he let Zamik lower him down from the chains connected to the roof.

Once Ingram was on the ground Zamik could take a detailed look at his injuries. To this day, he wishes he hadn't.

Ingram's crown feathers hung like long hair over his face, broken and bloody. There were scars all over his body, running down his neck and chest. The flesh had been stripped away from his wrists, leaving the bone and nerves exposed. Both his legs were broken, one was completely shattered. Along his back were what looked like claw marks, deep and still flowing with blood, possibly inflicted that day?

_how is he coping with this?_

Zamik didn't even see the barbed wire that held Ingram's wings to his body. But he knew it was there, he could feel it, he also knew about it when he felt Ingram jerk as he moved one of his wings.

_I hope they get here soon, he can't hold out much longer if this is what happens to him virtually every day _

"You shouldn't be here you know. He'll kill you."

Zamik found himself smiling at the young bakugan's voice.

"He said if anyone else came near me that they would go through the same thing that is happening to me."

Zamik wrapped his hand around Ingram's. "What can he do to me? I'm a guard, evil he may be, but he won't attack a guard if knows what' good for him."

Zamik pulled Ingram into a kiss, causing him to automatically fight back.

Zamik was surprised to say the least when Ingram started to dominate him. Whatever his age, he was obviously experienced. He knew that the scar running down Ingram's body was extremely sensitive, he also knew how to use the scar for pleasure instead of pain, it was just a matter of caress.

He smiled as Ingram moaned into the kiss.

Zamik broke off the kiss when he heard Tyorg walking down the hall. "Oh, great…"

"He-he's back, isn't he?" the fear and pain in his voice was unbearable. He knew what was coming and that scared him like nothing else.

"Sorry kid. I'm sorry."

Zamik quickly chained Ingram back up and left to stand outside the cell. He watched as Tyorg walked back into the cell, he felt a tear fall from his eye when he heard Tyorg talk to Ingram in that dominatrix-like voice. "Well, well, dear. Miss me?"

_Oh, god. What have I done?_

*time skip*

He was broken. After 4 years of torture he had snapped. He didn't feel anything anymore, he was emotionally dead.

"He finally broke. I guess it doesn't really matter now huh?"

Zell looked at Ingram's cell as she said this. Quickly wiping a tear from her eye she turned her head to Zamik, he was barely standing.

"Honey, you knew it was going to happen eventually."

"Yeah, but why now? Why does it have to be now that Tyorg breaks him? Why?"

Zamik was trembling, barely able to say anything.

"I should've gotten him out when I had the chance. And now, he's-he's…"

He couldn't say any more because he knew he would break down. Zamik gripped his trident and allowed himself to fall against the wall. He was desperately trying to hold back the tears that threatened to fall down his face, but he knew it was hopeless. He just let them fall.

Zell couldn't stand it, seeing Zamik like this. She gasped as she broke her trident.

"Maybe it's time we took things into our own hands. They aren't going to get here in time."

"But, what could we do? The honour code-"

"Who cares? We need to help him."

Zamik straightened up as his eyes flashed. "What are we waiting for then?"

Both guards heard a gasp coming from inside the cell as Tyorg slashed at Ingram for the last time before he left. "Don't fight it dear, you know it's the only way out."

Zamik twisted his trident in his hand as Tyorg walked out like nothing had happened.

Then they struck.

The next thing Tyorg knew was that there was a trident through his heart and one at his neck.

"What sort of treachery is this?"

Zell, whose trident was at his neck, straightened and stood up. "The simple fact is, honey, Zamik and I agree that you have gone too far."

"Too far? Ha. I'm just beginning"

Zell looked at Zamik who was trying really hard not to rip Tyorg's black heart out.

"Oh, I don't think so honey. Zamik? If you would."

A smile more suited to the joker appeared on Zamik's face as he ripped his trident out of Tyorg's body, taking his heart with it.

"Hehehe, oops." He laughed as Tyorg died.

"*Sigh* murderous tendencies aside…"

The laughter died from Zamik's eyes as he got back up. "Let's go"

And as calmly as they could Zell and Zamik entered what had become known as the "Cell of the dead"

chapter 4

You could have heard Zell's scream from the other side of the dungeon. Zamik just stood there, trident in his hand.

"Ok, Tyorg was lucky that I killed him before I saw…that"

The air was thick with new blood. The walls, the floor, everything was covered in blood. It looked like Ingram's wings had been hacked off, as they lay across the room from him. Ingram himself had been cut down from the chains on the roof and now lay in the middle of the room, one hand gripping the other at the wrist like some sad psych case. The scar that ran down the length of his body had been re-opened, colouring his body a deep red. One eye had been gouged out and destroyed leaving him with a new gash down his face.

As he lay on the ground, Ingram seemed to be speaking nonsense, bordering on hysteria.

"Why? Why me? What's so special about me? How could he do this? How?"

Placing his trident down on the floor, Zamik walked over to the trembling, broken bakugan. Making sure that he didn't startle Ingram too much, Zamik sat down next to him and held him against his body, keeping Ingram out of the blood on the ground.

"I'm so sorry kid; I should have saved you when I had the chance. I shouldn't have left you in here with him, i-"

He was broken off mid-sentence as Ingram weakly kissed him, wrapping one hand around his neck, pulling him in.

"Don't be sorry. I was the one who should have been stronger."

Without another word Zamik embraced Ingram, silencing him. "You were strong, you were stronger than any other bakugan ever could be. you don't know."

_All this could have been avoided if I had acted sooner_

_Why would they do this for me? They have no connection with me. _

The sound of blood hitting the cell floor woke Zamik from his semi-trance. Ingram had fallen unconscious in his embrace. He looked up when he heard Zell.

"I guess the stress and blood loss caught up to him huh?"

"Yeah, look I'm no healer but-"

He stopped talking as Zell walked over to the hidden draw that lay in every cell. She walked back with a roll of anaesthetic bandages. "We should at least wrap his arms and what's left of his wings up. That should stop the main blood flow."

"What about the scar?"

"That will have to wait."

Zamik sighed as he wrapped the bandages around Ingram's wrist; Hawk and Sky were going to get one hell of a surprise when they got here.

chapter 5

*time skip*

Darkness, pure black, terror, pain.

Ingram's soul was floating on the brink of death. He groaned slightly as he pushed himself up into an upright position. "Where-where am I?" he whirled around as he tried to work out where he was.

He could see others, dead and dying trying to get out of this world. He was standing in blood, his blood. Voices started to swirl around him, begging him to leave, to find a way out before it was too late. One was stronger that all the others, Tyorg's. "Don't fight it dear, you know it's the only way out…" Ingram jumped when he felt Tyorg next to him. Spinning round and slamming him with a ferocious kick, sending Tyorg flying back.

"What are you doing here?"

Tyorg cringed as he got up, partly because of the kick, partly because of the venom in Ingram's voice.

"Now, now, is that any way to greet your elders?"

"Enough, Tyorg, what is this place?"

The older bakugan pulled himself up so he was standing in front of Ingram. "You're in the Doom Dimension dear. Where did you think you were?"

Ingram stepped away from Tyorg with fear and confusion in his eye. "How did I get here? My body should have healed enough- what did you do to me?"

"Simple dear, your healing factor was turned off. I would have thought that you knew that."

"Pleasantries aside, how do I get out of here?"

Tyorg's eyes gleamed as he took hold of Ingram's hand. "How else indeed. One way out dear, one way."

He was surprised as Ingram jerked his hand out of Tyorg's grasp.

"You think I will fall for that? There must be some other way. I just need to find it."

As he said this, Ingram fell to that ground and immediately sat up with his legs overlapping and one hand over the other in his lap. Tyorg stepped back as an incantation circle appeared around Ingram.

"Darkness, light and air, hear my call as the world descends into chaos. Find a path to the other world, help." What was left of his wings spread out as a dark shape, like a raven enveloped him. It looked up and flew to where Tyorg was standing. It circled around him until it was satisfied and then zoomed around the Doom Dimension, looking for a way out.

*T_his is ridiculous, there should be at least one more way out. There must be_*

Eventually, the raven admitted defeat and re-possessed Ingram's body.

He awoke from his trance at the sound of Tyorg's voice.

"You see? There is only one way out dear."

Ingram looked up at his tormenter with a cold look in his eye.

"If that is the case, so be it. But-"

He cut off as Tyorg moved closer to him. His eye flashed as he reacted instantly, forcing Tyorg into an arm lock. "-I am doing this to get out of here, no other reason. Got it?" the venom in his voice was overpowering.

"Alright, alright. No need to get violent."

"Well, if you're going to go back to your old tricks, I beg to differ."

"Can you let me go now?"

With a growl, Ingram threw Tyorg to the ground. He stepped back as Tyorg hauled himself back up. The older bakugan knew that Ingram would kill without question if he saw a reason to and he did actually want the kid to find a way out. He just happened to be the only channel back to the real world. "Well dear?"

"I know, honestly I wish I didn't but…"

Tyorg smiled as he gently kissed the injured ventus. He didn't fight back, no matter what his instincts were saying to him, the sooner this was done, the better. Ingram cringed slightly as his soul merged with Tyorg's, causing him to break the kiss off. He was already turning transparent as his soul was transferred back to the real world.

"Let's hope I never have to see you again."

"Careful what you wish for, Ingram."

The younger bakugan smiled. "Not this time Tyorg, not this time."

Then he was gone.

chapter 6

Hawktor sighed as he looked over Ingram's stats for possibly the 3rd time. He wanted to be sure that he didn't miss anything. "And this isn't even including his mental health." He loosened his wings slightly as he placed the clip board down on the desk. #_How could my brother do this? I know that Zamik killed him for it but…_#

He looked up as Wayvern poked her head in the door. "He's going to be ok, isn't he?"

"Physically, yes. Mentally, I've no idea."

Wayvern walked over to where the comatose ventus was. She gently moved a feather out of his face and then turned to Hawktor. "You sure about that? No amount of mechanics is going to bring his eye back."

"You think I don't know that?" Hawktor's voice had a defeated tone to it, like his heart had given up but his body was still going.

"It's not your fault Hawk, it's just bad timing."

"Bad timing? Ha, if it was bad timing he would be better off."

Wayvern gently traced the scar that ran down Ingram's neck and sighed. "Even so… at least he's not dead."

"At least…"

There are some things that time won't fix. This was one of them. They were trying to convince themselves as much as the next person that he would be ok, but there was that underlying knowledge that they were just kidding themselves.

This was going to be a long road to a slow death.

chapter 7

*time skip*

It had been 3 months. By now, everyone was familiar with the faint, consistent beep of the heart monitor. Wayvern came in every now and again to talk to and support Hawktor as he looked after Ingram and kept him alive.

"It's never going to be the same, is it?"

Hawktor looked up from the monitors. There was an underlying, faint desperation in his eyes.

"No, I'm not betting on it."

He absentmindedly ran his hand along the biomechanical wings that were to replace Ingram's wings.

"He is going to hate this…"

"It's the only way he's going to be able to fly again. Besides, he'll get used to them."

"Guess so."

It hurt Wayvern, seeing how disheartened Hawktor was, if it wasn't for the fact that Ingram was his boyfriend, chances were that he would have given up completely. She semi-consciously un-wrapped Ingram's arms, the flesh was starting to curl around his wrists leaving a permanent bracelet scar. This was good for 2 reasons: 1) it showed that he was still alive, if not leaning on the edge. And 2) it meant that they wouldn't have to use biomechanics to replace his arms.

"Once he wakes up, how long do you think it's going to take him to even trust you?"

Hawktor seemed surprised at that question. "What makes you ask that?"

"Face it, you look like your brother and it was your brother that did this to him."

"We'll just have to see then, won't we?"

Satisfied with this answer, Wayvern made her way to the door. Once she got there, she stopped.

"You'll tell me if he wakes up, yes?"

"Certainly"

She half smiled as she closed the door behind her.

Her question almost scared him. What if Ingram did think that he was his brother? What if he tried to kill him? Hawktor knew full well that he was capable of that. "Oh boy. Why does she always have to say these things when I'm like this?"

He looked back at Ingram for a few seconds, and then quickly decided to distract himself with the medical report. This was no time to let emotion rule over logic.

chapter 8

Ingram yelped as the mechanical wings connected to his body, causing him to jerk and wake up. Immediately he looked around with his good eye. He wrapped his new wings around himself and tried to work out where he was, he knew he wasn't in the Dungeon Dimension anymore, but that was all he knew.

"Where am i?" he was speaking to no one in particular and was incredibly startled when someone answered him. It was Wayvern.

"You're safe, if that's what you're-" she raised her hand automatically when Ingram lashed at her with his sword. he blinked as Wayvern's blood hit the floor. "-Wondering." It took a few seconds for Wayvern to get over the shock. "It's me, dear, you don't have to do that." She lowered his sword, wincing as the blade slipped from her flesh. With a growl borne of fear and suspicion, Ingram sheathed his sword and folded his wings in.

"Leave him, I'd react like that too if I was in his situation."

Wayvern obediently stepped away from Ingram. Although she wasn't sure how he would react to Hawktor. She noticed Ingram's hand fall on his sword, un-sheathing it slightly. "It's not him dear. Tyorg's dead."

"Dead?" Ingram loosed his wings and let go of his sword. he really wasn't sure how to react to all this. By the looks of the monitors, he had been comatose for a considerable period of time. His wings had been replaced with bio-mechanical replicas, which were scarily accurate and now they were saying that his tormentor and abuser of 4 years was dead. "So that's what he meant by 'he will never harm you again"

Ingram semi-consciously ran his hand along the bracelet scar on is wrist. "I'm guessing that these are permanent."

"Un-fortunately, yes. Even with your heal factor , those scars are staying like that." The young bakugan looked up at his boyfriend, who had moved to the side of the bed, even though Ingram knew that he could trust Hawktor, there was no hiding the pain and fear in his remaining eye.

Hawktor respectfully stepped back. "No one is blaming you." Ingram shuddered and looked away, Hawktor looked too much like is brother for Ingram to maintain any form of eye contact. Self-consciously, Ingram wrapped his wings around his body again. He didn't know why, but it just gave him a sense of security.

He watched as Hawktor walked to the door of the infirmary. "It looks like you will need a few minutes. I'll be back." He closed and locked the door behind him.

Ingram just looked at the door. "Baka! He's your boyfriend for Apollonier's sake. How can you not trust him?" for the next 5 minutes, he just worked on getting his heart rate down to a reasonable speed, it was just way to fast right now.

chapter 9

"You sure he's going to be ok like that?"

"He has to be Scarlette, if he's not I won't know what to do."

Scarlette looked at the ventus with sadness in her eyes. To see him like this was, unusual at best and devastating at worst. He was even neglecting himself, his condition was horrible. If it wasn't for the fact that he his armour and cloak had become part of his body, you would be able to see how emaciated he was.

"Personally, I don't think it will do anyone any good if you die on us. He may not act it, but Ingram needs you. You're the only one he can truly trust. Just have faith that he will snap out of it."

Scarlette kept her sanity by being ignorant of the world and its problems. She apparently didn't know what Ingram's mental condition was like, or how it was affecting everyone else. She jumped as Hawktor spun round.

"He's not just going to 'snap' out of it. Do you even know what happened to him?"

"Admittedly, no. why? Was it something bad?"

#G_od she is such a child sometimes._#

Realising that he would not be able to win this by verbally explaining the situation to her, Hawktor handed her the full medical report. Un-locking the door he turned to Scarlette. "Read that, it will explain everything better than I can."

Scarlette watched as the door closed, then walked down the hall so she could read. Her scream shattered the windows.

chapter 10

Ingram was leaning on the window when Hawktor came back in. the scars along his back were clearly visible; they obviously hadn't healing in the 3 ½ months that he was in a coma. He carefully approached Ingram and leaned against the wall beside him. It was a few minutes before either of them spoke.

"I shouldn't be this scared, I shouldn't be this jumpy. I'm a medic for Apolloneir's sake! What did he want with me?"

Looking at Ingram's condition, it was hard to imagine that this was the one who could kill with a flick of his wrist.

"I don't know Ing, I just don't know. People do crazy things if they are pushed hard enough."

For a moment, Ingram almost believed his boyfriend. Maybe there was no reason; maybe he was forced to do it. But he knew that it was impossible, ventus bakugan didn't move without a reason and more often than not, they were bent on revenge.

"Reason or not, why me? If it was some sort of scheme to get me over to their side, they should know that I am taken."

Hawktor couldn't help but smile at Ingram's comment, but he did find it worrying. Tyorg always was envious of his brother because of Ingram, maybe he just struck back. Half-consciously he traced the gashes along Ingram's back, causing him to shiver as the sensation flowed through his body.

"Whatever the reason. We'll work through it. It will just take time."

Ingram spun round to face his boyfriend. There was no pain or fear in his eye, just desperation. He placed his hand on Hawktor's chest and sighed. "Time isn't going to fix this. Not time alone anyway."

"Who said it would be time alone that helped you?"

Ingram smiled through the gash on his face. maybe, just maybe, there was hope for his situation.


End file.
